p. 6 | THE GREAT SALVATION by Geo. W. Reaser

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, Cal. · Feb 13, 1907

THE GREAT SALVATION

By Geo. W. Reaser

By GEO. W. REASER.

CREATION AND NATURE.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork."

THE works of God in creation and in nature constitute a twofold agency in the plan of salvation. No spot can be found in earth, heaven, or space, where, either to the sense of sight or touch, there is not abundant evidence of the existence and power of a Supreme Being; "for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they [who refuse to accept the evidence and believe in the true God] are without excuse." "Because that which may be known of God is manifest to them; for God hath showed it unto them."

The open book of Nature not only testifies to the existence and power of the true God, who gives to all life and breath and all things, and in whom alone "we live and move and have our being," but it makes emphatic declaration of the fact that "the hand that made her is divine." "The heavens declare the glory of God."

We frequently measure the ability and power of man by the volume and excellency of the work which he is able to accomplish. Let us consider the Creator for a moment from the same standpoint. It is written of Him, that "the firmament showeth His handiwork." Doubtless there never was a child born into the world, who came to years of observation and even limited degree of understanding, who, on beholding the works of God in creation and nature, did not raise the query,

By Whom Were These Things Made?

"When I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained," the natural inquiry is, "Who hath made these things?" "How came they into existence?" When we meditate upon the illimitable vastness of space, the immensity of the various revolving spheres in space, and their velocity of orbital movement, we must recognize the fact that some unseen, intelligent, Central Power upholds them all, and that a Supreme Being must have control of the wonderful mechanism, by which they revolve in their allotted orbits. No shafting, or driving-belts, no cogwheels, or gear, no electric wiring from a central dynamo, are seen to connect the heavenly bodies with the Supply Center of all energy, yet they are connected therewith by a power a millionfold stronger than the strongest and mightiest cable ever forged by man.

It is claimed by astronomers that the power required to hold the moon (always face toward us) in its orbit around the earth is equivalent to the united strength of as many rods of iron (each one-fourth of an inch in diameter) as there are square feet on half of the earth's surface. Or, to take the strength of a solid bar of iron, it would require a single bar 375 miles in diameter, to accomplish the same result. The power which upholds all things is manifest to reason's eye if not to our physical orbs of sight.

The Very Recurrence of Day and Night

proclaims divine power. If, when night settles down over all the earth, it depended upon man to bring day again, the night would never terminate, the day never dawn. Man simply lies down at night, depending wholly upon the Lord to keep even his own organism at work, and to perpetuate his life, without a thought but that the Lord will uphold all things and bring the succeeding day. Therefore it is written that "day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge."

These evidences are abundant wherever man dwells, hence all who disbelieve God, are "without excuse." This universal evidence and constant witness should lead men to seek Him that made Orion and all they who seek Him will surely find Him for He is "not far from every one of us." Numerous instances are on record where individuals among the heathen have been led to worship the Creator thru reading the books of nature. Doubtless Abraham was one of this class. His own ancestors were idolaters, but as the eyes of the Lord ran to and fro thruout the whole world, "to show Himself strong in behalf" of those whose hearts were perfect toward Him, He beheld Abraham, honest in heart, seeking after the true God, and renouncing idolatry, and called him out to be "the father of the faithful," and to be an ancestor of the Christ.

"When Napoleon Bonaparte was Emperor of France, he put a man by the name of Charney into prison. He thought Charney was an enemy of his government, and for that reason deprived him of his liberty. Charney was a learned and profound man, and as he walked to and fro in the small yard into which his prison opened, he looked up to the heavens, the work of God's fingers, and to the moon and stars which He ordained, and exclaimed, 'All things come by chance!' One day, while pacing his yard,

He Saw a Tiny Plant

just breaking the ground near the wall. The sight of it caused a pleasant diversion of his thoughts. No other green thing was within his inclosure. He watched its growth every day. 'How came it here?' was his natural inquiry. As it grew, other queries were suggested. 'How came these delicate little veins in its leaves? What made its proportions so perfect in every part, each new branch taking its exact place on the parent stalk, neither too near another, nor too much on one side?' In his loneliness the plant became the prisoner's teacher and his valued friend. When the flower began to unfold he was filled with delight. It was white, purple, and rose colored, with a fine silvery fringe. Charney made a frame to support it, and did what his circumstances allowed to shelter it from the pelting rains and violent winds.

"'All things come by chance,' had been written by him upon the wall, just above where the flower grew. Its gentle reproof as it whispered 'there is One who made me so wonderfully beautiful, and He it is who keeps me alive,' shamed the proud man's unbelief. He brushed the lying words from the wall, while his heart felt that 'He who made all things is God.'

"But God had a further blessing for the erring man thru the humble flower. There was an Italian prisoner in the same yard whose little daughter was permitted to visit him. The girl was much pleased with Charney's love for his flower. She related what she saw to the wife of the jailor. The story of the prisoner and his flower passed from one to another, until it reached the ears of the amiable Empress Josephine. The Empress said: 'This man who so devoutly loves and tends a flower can not be a bad man,' so she persuaded the Emperor to set him at liberty. Thus the flower was to him like the angel that visited Peter's prison—his deliverer from the chains of his body and his soul. Charney carried his flower home, and carefully tended it in his own greenhouse. It had taught him to believe in God, and had delivered him from prison."

"There's not a plant or flower below But makes Thy glories known."

To the one who recognizes the existence and whose soul is responsive to the presence of the creative God, scarcely anything will come under his observation but by it his mind will be directed to Him who "created all things by Jesus Christ," and the sentiment of his heart is:

"Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed Where'er I turn my eyes! If I survey the ground I tread, Or gaze upon the skies."

"Silence had a tongue; the grave, The darkness, and the lonely waste had each A tongue, and ever said, Man, think of God! Think of thyself! think of eternity! Fear God, the thunder said; fear God, the waves, Fear God, the lightning of the storm replied. Fear God, deep loudly answered back to deep!"

Skeptics profess to be wise above their fellows. They do "not like to retain God in their knowledge," and therefore try to banish Him from their thoughts. God pronounces all such fools.

Great Calamities in Nature

frequently cause boldest infidels and those who scoff at the idea of prayer, to loudly call upon God for mercy.

The Lord has never left "Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art, that" "sitteth in the seat of the scornful," or of the unbeliever; for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."

How much less excusable is the unbelief of the professed Christian, than the bold cavil of the avowed infidel?

In the days in which the coming of the Son of Man is imminent, God will employ

The Forces of Nature

to herald that grand event,—even as nature, in sympathy with its Creator, was affected at His crucifixion.